Recently I heard Tim Staples talk on Catholic Answers about the upcoming election and the issues of most importance to Catholics. He mentioned the 5 top non-negotiable issues and then went on to briefly mention there were a number of other things that should also be non-negotiable including pornography. I immediately thought to myself, "is he implying we need to criminalize pornography?" It seems like an almost impossible thing to enforce in our current society simply because of the technology that is available to us today. Even if it was criminalized I am not sure what practical effect it would have since we have the internet, digital cameras, and other countries that may not criminalize pornography. Throw in openly available cryptography software and it just seems like a big mess. I feel like it has the potential to turn into something similiar to the prohibition of alcohol. I have thought about it for awhile and been reading about the issue, and I am curious to see what would happen if we tried it. It may or may not be successful in the sense that people actually stop watching porn. If your goal is to actually stop the spread, manufacture and use of pornography I am not sure criminalization is an effective way to do it. I can see it going either way. But I digress... This made me think of something more interesting. 3D printers.
3D printing technology has really taken off in the last decade. I would not be surprised at all if in the next decade or so everyone has ready access to a 3D printer capable of printing a wide variety of polymer parts. Online repositories already exist of things you can download to print. A good example is the "Thingverse"
http://www.thingiverse.com/
So this implies that these printers could also be used to manufacture contraband. It is not inconceivable that someone could print out a plastic gun using 3D printer technology. Actually it has already begun:
http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/23/3d-printing-weapons/
here is another interesting article.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2012/07/28/the-end-of-gun-control/
So it is very possible that criminals of the future will make use of encryption and steganography to distribute files to print out contraband. People will be printing out guns and knives and pipes and who knows what else... And there will be no practical way to stop it.
This this made me think of something else. What effect would this have on the issue of abortion? Right now the pro-life movement is working diligently to criminalize abortion. I heard a presentation at the Catholic Medical Association annual conference a year ago where someone pointed out that the pro-life movement is very young in comparison to movements like the slavery abolition movement in North America. They pointed out that it took many centuries to abolish slavery and in comparison the pro-life movement is not even half a century old. They made the point that the pro-life movement may have a long road ahead of it. So given that outlook what effect will technology have on the issue?
Well sensor technology is getting cheaper by the month. Recently a $2 device was developed that could attach to a smartphone to give you an eye exam. Smart phones and medical apps are being developed at a rapid pace to monitor a variety of vital signs and to tell people when to take their medicine or exercise etc, etc. In the not too distant future smart phones may interact with embedded medical devices. Given this reality coupled with the development of 3D printers it is entirely possible that even if abortion was criminalized in the United States some underground pro-choice group could build plans for a home-made vacuum aspiration machine that could be downloaded off the internet. The plans could be encrypted and hidden using stenganography. People could even use onion routing to make it less traceable. There would probably be almost no way to stop this from happening.
I do not bring this up to sound discouraging to the pro-life movement. I bring it up because given the potential for a long-term abortion-abolition movement I would like to suggest that they consider the possibility of how technology may alter the social and culture landscape. If the pro-life movement is really concerned with preventing abortions and saving lives it may be worth considering what could happen even if the criminalization of abortion is achieved. Criminalization alone may not be effective at actually signifigantly reducing the number of abortions. It may be worth taking into account when strategic decisions are made on the use of human, spiritual and physical resources at the disposal of the pro-life movement. I feel that if you want to be successful you don't go to where the ball is, you go to where the ball is going to be. Given that Catholics often have a very long-term outlook so I am confident it will all be worked out in the end.
We are definitely entering a brave new world... Be ready.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/aug/17/sex-reproduction-aarathi-prasad
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